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Thursday, February 19, 2015

2015 Dusseldorf Viewing Guide - Men's Category

Here are the male stars to look out for in the upcoming 2015 Dusseldorf Grand Prix.

-60kg
Pool A: Mongolia's Ganbat Boldbaatar is the world champion and a top favorite (if not the top favorite).

Pool B: Japan's Naohisa Takato can be said to be a top favorite too. They didn't get a chance to meet in the 2014 Chelyabinsk World Championships because Takato got defeated by Russia's Besland Mudranov (who is not competing in Dusseldorf). A match up between Takato and Boldbaatar would be an exciting one indeed but the up-and-coming South Korean Kim Won-Jin is in this category too.

Pool C: Georgia Amiran Papinashvili is the clear favorite here.

Pool D: There is no clear favorite in this pool, which has several top players that could emerge victor. They include Azerbaijan's Orkhan Safarov, France's Sofiane Milous, Kazahkstan's Yeldos Smetov and Japan's Shishime Toru.

-66kgPool A: Mongolia's Tumurkhuleg Davaadorj will likely top this pool.

Pool B: Azerbaijan's Nijat Shikhalizada and France's David Larose are likely to battle it out here.

Pool C: No clear favorite here.

Pool D: Also no clear favorites, but I'd watch the veteran Elio Verde of Italy and two newcomers, Kengo Takaichi and South Korea's An Baul.

-73kgPool A: Israel's big thrower Sagi Muki is the one to watch here.

Pool B: Japan's Shohei Ono, who's had a shaky record since winning the gold at the 2013 Rio World Championships is still the top favorite here. But in this pool are Belgium's Dirk Van Tichelt and Mongolia's Nyam-Ochir Sainjargal both of whom could pull off an upset.

Pool C: No overwhelming favorite although UAE's Victor Scvortov is likely to top the pool.

Pool D: Slovenia's Rok Draksic is the likely victor here.

-81kgPool A: No question. Georgia's Avtandili Tchrikishvili is the odds-on favorite for the whole category. But Brazil's Leandro Guilhero is in this category too. It would be an exciting match if these two meet.

Pool B: A match up between USA's Travis Stevens and South Korea's Wang Ki-Chun would be fantastic.

Pool C: Really no top favorite here.

Pool D: France's Loic Pietri is the top man here but Japan's newcomer Takanori Nagase is a giant killer. In the recent 2014 Tokyo Grand Slam, he defeated Tchrikishvili, South Korea's Kim Jae-Bum and Russia's Ivan Nifontov -- all world champions!

-90kgPool A: Georgia' Varlam Liparteliani is always very exciting to watch and he is likely to emerge victor here although in his pool is Japan's stylish player Yuya Yoshida who could prove problematic for the Georgian. They have fought once in the IJF World Circuit and Yoshida won, but that was way back in 2010.

Pool B: South Korea's Gwak Dong Han is the rising star but Georgia's Beka Gviniashvili could be a dark horse.

Pool C: Hungary's rising star Krisztian Toth is the man to watch here but in his pool is Japan's Daiki Nishiyama. Toth should prevail though.

Pool D: The two hot players in this pool are from the Netherlands: up-and-coming Noel Van T End and veteran Guillaume Elmont. I give the edge to the younger of the two.

Pool B: A match up between Kazakhstan's Maxim Rakov and Mongolia's Tuvshinbayar Naidan should be very exciting. In their two most recent matches at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games and 2014 Chelyabinsk World Championship, Naidan won. But Rakov beaten Naidan twice before. So it would be a great battle to watch.

Pool C: Without doubt, Henk Grol of the Netherlands although he is pushing 30.